19 Artists Who Left The Streaming Service In 2025

Canadian indie/folk/electronic artist Chad VanGaalen is known for the early releases he recorded at his makeshift home studio, and that DIY reputation has been following him for the past two decades now. But this was the year he finally decided to pull the plug on Spotify: “I have asked for [my music’s] removal because Spotify/Apple/Amazon are mediocre lazy demon level weirdos,” he wrote back in February. He’s still on Apple Music, Tidal, and Bandcamp.

You might know already that Cindy Lee’s beloved 2024 opus Diamond Jubilee could only be streamed on YouTube, then was reissued exclusively on Bandcamp, but some of their previous records, like 2020’s What’s Tonight To Eternity, were available on Spotify until August of this year. Now all Cindy Lee records exist only on Bandcamp (or on vinyl, if you’re lucky).

Deerhoof were among the first artists to cite Daniel Ek’s military AI investments as their reason for leaving Spotify. “We don’t want our success being tied to AI battle tech,” the band wrote in June. “Spotify is flushing itself down the toilet. Eventually artists will want to leave this already widely hated data-mining scam masquerading as a ‘music company.’ It’s creepy for users and crappy for artists. Music-making lasts forever but this or that digital get-rich-quick scheme is sure to become obsolete.” You can still stream Deerhoof in all the other usual places.

Former Dirty Projectors member Angel Deradoorian also cited Ek’s military investments as her biggest motivator for leaving Spotify, though she said in September it was a decision she’d been wanting to make for a while: “Since Spotify came along, I have always felt skeptical and opposed to their platform,” she wrote. “Because it became the norm, I felt like I had to just put up with it and take what I could get. Perhaps that was true more so in the nascent stages of my solo career, but it doesn’t feel that way now… I do not support AI technology that’s built to spy on us, create weapons to kill us, and utilize psychological tactics to dumb us down to the point of not questioning our reality and devolving our neural connections. It’s important to employ your mental faculties and ability to question in these times and I am trying harder to do that more consistently.” Deradoorian’s albums are still on Apple, Tidal, and Bandcamp.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor didn’t release an official statement when they took their music off Spotify, but their departure came shortly after the news of Ek’s investment broke. The post-rock legends also went ahead and took their music off of Apple and Tidal, too, and is now available to stream exclusively on Bandcamp.

Hotline TNT’s 2021 debut album was initially only available to stream on YouTube, and now, the Brooklyn band — whose recent album Raspberry Moon we just named one of the year’s best — are more or less going back to those roots by leaving Spotify. “The company that bills itself as the steward of all recorded music has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that it does not align with the band’s values in any way,” they wrote in August. “A cooler world is possible.” Hotline TNT’s albums are available to stream on Apple Music, Bandcamp, and, yes, YouTube.

Izzy Lou Reidy, the brain behind Chicago band Izzy True, celebrated Spotify Wrapped season this month by sharing a video explaining why they chose to remove their music from the platform this year. They’re currently working on a new album, and as of now, it looks like you’ll be able to listen to that on Apple Music, Tidal, and Bandcamp when the time comes.

Singer-songwriter Kadhja Bonet announced in August that not only was she leaving Spotify (a decision she said led to her getting dropped from her label Ninja Tune), but that her music would also not be available on Apple Music, Deezer, or Tidal, citing corruption among all the major streaming platforms. You can find her on Bandcamp.

It was the “fuck Spotify” heard ’round the world when the King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announced they’d be pulling their music from Spotify. You can still listen to their albums — of which there are many — on Apple Music and Tidal, but they also made their catalog available for “name your price” on Bandcamp.

In September Massive Attack announced that along with blocking their music from streaming across platforms in Israel, they were also in the process of getting their music taken down from Spotify around the world. As of now, however, Massive Attack remain on Spotify, which makes you wonder what kind of hoops major-label artists have to jump through in order to do so.

My Bloody Valentine haven’t made any official statements about taking their music off of Spotify, but a few months ago their first two albums Isn’t Anything and Loveless inexplicably disappeared from all streaming platforms in the US.

Particle Kid is the project of Willie Nelson’s son Micah Nelson, and it’s nice to see artists with that level of music-industry privilege opting out of Big Streaming. In October he announced he’d be moving his music to the Flow, a newer streaming/social media platform that aims to weed out all AI-generated music.

The recently-reunited screamo band Saetia cited Spotify’s ICE recruitment ads when they announced they’d be removing their music from the platform. Most of their music is still available on Apple Music and Tidal, while their new music can be found on Bandcamp.

“To be a part of a machine that supports and funds weapons of destruction, that abuses artists, and actively encourages the recruitment of agents for fascism, is something that we cannot be blind to,” ’90s post-hardcore greats Swing Kids said when they announced they were leaving Spotify. Their music is still available in the other usual places.

When Sylvan Esso released their new single “WDID” this year, they also announced that they, too, would be removing their music from Spotify and opting to self-release their music going forward. “While no solution is perfect, we simply can’t continue to put our life’s work in a store that, in addition to all its other glaring flaws, directly funds war machines,” they wrote. You can still listen to them on Apple Music, Bandcamp, and Tidal.

“I will not allow my songs to be turned into bombs,” Laura Burhenn wrote on Instagram in July. While her project the Mynabirds is no longer available on Spotify, you can still stream their music on the other major streaming platforms, though Burhenn strongly suggests supporting artists via Bandcamp.

WU LYF were a bit ahead of the curve, having quietly disappeared from big streaming platforms way back in April. As of now, Bandcamp is the only platform where WU LYF’s entire catalog remains available.

Xiu Xiu, who just announced a genre-spanning covers album, wrote in a statement in July: “We are currently working to take all of our music off of garbage hole violent armageddon portal Spotify. It is taking longer than we had hoped due to [procedural] complications but will be completed soon. Thanks for the support and patience. For all the reasons you already know — PLEASE CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WITH SPOTIFY.” Their catalog is still available on Bandcamp, Apple Music, and Tidal.

“To think that our fans’ money is being used to invest in future machines to kill the innocent is beyond inhumane and unacceptable,” Young Widows wrote in September. “We do understand that there is truly no just capitalism and every large company in existence has either direct ties or personnel within that are funding means to control, exploit and manipulate the people.” Indeed, Young Widows are available on Apple Music, Tidal, and Bandcamp, but their catalog has been wiped from Spotify.